Wednesday; August 26

Herbert Hoover has an interesting place in American history.  In 1928 he rode a landslide into the White House; but by 1932 the majority of citizens couldn’t get him out of the office soon enough.  Following the Crash of ’29, he lost the election to Franklin Roosevelt only amassing 59 (of 531) electoral votes. 

Whether Hoover got what he deserved is not the point of this article, rather I came across a quote that I would like to share.  When he reflected on one great American pastime he noted, “Fishing is more than fish.  It is the great occasion when we may return to the find simplicity of our forefathers.”.  For some people, this may not make a lot of sense, but I really like his observation.  I think that it is easy to get wrapped up in the facts and figures of life and miss the life and times they represent.  Sure, it’s fun to catch fish (or score goals, or win a board game, or grow prize-winning flowers, or whatever else we like to do); but there are times the actual activity is what ends up being important.  For fishing, it might be the quiet calmness that ties us to our forefathers or the comradery of being with others.  Fishing may not be your thing, but I think if we take the time to reflect on what we like to do, there is a chance that the end may not be as important as the process.

What do we like to do?  Why do we like to do it?  When we keep our eye on the “why” we might enjoy it even more.

Think About It!

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